UCSD Falls to Western Washington at Crossover Classic

On Saturday, the No.17 Tritons lost to Western Washington 84–65 in the Crossover Classic. Down by 22 at one point, UCSD was able to bring the lead all the way down to seven, but it wasn’t enough at Whatcom Community College Pavillion. This second loss in a row puts the Tritons at 2–2 on the season while the Vikings improve to 3–1.

The Tritons leading scorer was junior forward Dalayna Sampton, who had 16 points and seven rebounds while shooting 7–10. Senior forward Cassie Macleod added 15 points, four assists and two blocks. Junior guard Taylor Tanita led the game in assists with eight. The Tritons had no answer for Western Washington’s senior guard Taylor Peacocke who had a game-high 30 points.

Peacocke started hot early in the game, scoring 11 of her 30 points in the first quarter. UCSD was able to make it a two-point game at 21–19 but could not keep up with the Vikings’ offensive tenacity and ended up falling to 38–30 at halftime.

In the third quarter Western Washington outscored UCSD 24–14 and held a 62–44 lead at the end of the third period.

The Tritons tried their best to come back, as they started the fourth quarter on an 8–0 run to decrease the Vikings’ lead to 62–54. But the Vikings responded with a 6–0 run to stretch the lead to 14. UCSD got the lead down to seven at 68-61 but that was as short as the lead became as the Tritons finished the game 1–7 in field goals.

Sampton earned Crossover Classic All-Tournament Team honors as she averaged 12 points and 6.5 rebounds in two games. UCSD will host the UCSD Thanksgiving Classic for the seventh straight year where the Tritons will play Saginaw Valley State on Friday, Nov. 25 at 5 p.m. and Azusa Pacific University the following day at 3 p.m.